FWC lists the cause of death for five of the panthers as road kill, with unknown and intraspecific aggression (panthers killing panthers) being listed as the other two causes.

Panthers are listed as endangered subspecies (puma) by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, with the state estimating that between 120 and 230 big cats living south of Lake Okeechobee and the Caloosahatchee River.

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Mark Cunningham, a wildlfe veterinarian for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission prepares to perform a necropsy in Gainesville on a male panther killed by a motor vehicle in Golden Gate.(Photo: Andrew West/The News-Press, Andrew West/The News-Press)

Three sustainable populations of 240 is required before the species can be downlisted, according to FWS records.